Comment

Comment by tb2dari on May 26, 2013 at 11:34pm

My son will be graduating A school in June. My husband and I are tossing around going even though our son said it wasn't a real big deal but that the Nuclear Power School is the big grad event. So, since the trip is costly for us, should we just wait and attend NNPS grad? Or is the A School grad more than what he says? I'd appreciate any input.

Comment by NF Mom on May 26, 2013 at 4:08pm

Mark, I believe we are all saying the same thing, except that policy a couple years ago was more flexible for commanders.

For example, if a previously married NCO with a three bedroom house worth of furniture reported, he could be granted BAH at the commanders discretion. 

Apparently the staff at Power School and A School was relating similar experiences to students regarding when they reported as E4 Petty Officers at there first command from prototype.

What has apparently changed in the 2010 / 2011 time frame was that Military wide they took that discretion away from commanders.

As to what is happening right now, at one location they are putting up temporary walls across barrack rooms and turning a single room into two single rooms where one Sailor must pass through the other sailors bedroom to reach the semi-private bath and also to reach the the exterior door.  One Sailor has a key to both his room and the other Sailor's room.

My husband indicated these type of cost saving moves also occurred during the defense cuts after the Vietnam War.

Comment by B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet) on May 26, 2013 at 1:38pm

Hi Regi - I am sending you a friend request.  The college he is looking at is Warner Pacific - it's very small......

Comment by Mark on May 26, 2013 at 1:14pm

NF Mom - my understanding is that in the fleet these days it is very common for single E-4s to draw a housing allowance because of barracks shortages, but it applies equally to nucs and non-nucs.

Comment by Mark on May 26, 2013 at 1:03pm

FYI - the historic prototype sites were in Windsor, CT, the current site in NY, and in the Idaho desert an hour west of Idaho Falls (near Arco).  Most know Power School was in Orlando (where I went) before Charleston; before Orlando, there was a west coast Power School at (now closed) Mare Island Naval Shipyard, near Vallejo, CA.  I vaguely recall there was an "East Coast" Power School counterpart, but don't recall where - might have been in CT.  The separate "A" schools for nucs began in the late eighties in Orlando - before then, nucs had the same "A" schools with the non-nuc MMs, EMs, and ETs at Great Lakes.

Comment by NF Mom on May 26, 2013 at 12:57pm

Mark, very interesting about the BAH.

My recollection, and it may be wrong, was that my son complained about a briefing during Power School on the fact they were losing BAH after leaving proto-type, but there was no history involved.  The purpose was to counter advice some staff was giving that it was OK to buy furniture in prototype because they could get BAH in the fleet.

The explanation was that it was no longer going to be at the commanders discretion that individual E4 s could live off base with BAH, all single E4 would live in barracks if rooms were available due to a new Navy wide policy.

But again, I was not there, and my recollection may be wrong.

Comment by Mark on May 26, 2013 at 12:47pm

When I went through prototype in the mid-eighties in Idaho, I remember being given an explanation for the policy of nucs receiving a housing allowance rather than building barracks at the prototype sites.  It was essentially to see if the fledgling nuc had the maturity to handle themselves responsibly without someone looking over their shoulder constantly.  If they couldn't handle that, the thinking goes, they're going to be liabilities operating a nuclear propulsion plant. Incidentally, unless they were married, the housing allowance ended after prototype.  Single nucs in the fleet did not get a housing allowance, until they were senior enough (don't remember exactly when that was), but it was the same as for non-nucs in the fleet.  Nucs have never had a separate policy for housing allowances, except for the unique prototype situation.  

Comment by Shan_Ship02/Div934 on May 26, 2013 at 12:32pm

NF Mom, thanks so much! 

Comment by NF Mom on May 26, 2013 at 12:31pm

Z, the Nuke program was designed in the 1960s and until last decade, or two, there were many more proto-type facilities.  We have many former Nukes that come into my store, they see my son's ET pin I wear at work and they talk.

I know some went to school in Idaho, some in California and believe I may have heard of other former  Proto-type locations as well.  The Navy did not have baracks at all those locations and may not have wanted to invest in them.  Perhaps they wanted a standard experience for all Nukes coming out of the Nuke training pipe line.

Comment by NF Mom on May 26, 2013 at 12:24pm

Single Nukes live in barracks during Power School and A-School.

They are under the same command during Power School and A-School and Grad-Hold.

Only when they change military commands when moving into Pre-Fill or directly into Prototype class ( without going to Pre-Fill first ) do they get BAH and are forced to move out of the Barracks.

My understanding is prior to very recently, Nukes received BAH, even if single, when they moved on to the fleet, if they wanted to.  This was somewhat of a perk for Nukes.  With the military down size after the Iraq war ended this Perk is now gone.  E4 Nukes are no longer treated better regarding BAH after moving on to the fleet.  My husband indicates a smiliar thing happened after the Vietnam war ended and the military was rapidly downsizing ( he did not know about Nukes specifically back then.

Now we move into the area of speculation as to why.

The military command that operates Proto-Type does not have barracks for single students nor for permanent party staff, so for the "Needs of the Navy" all single enlisted Navy must live off base; and/or forcing single Nukes to take care of themselves off base while going to Prototype is just one more stress that is being intentionally imposed;  and/or the perk of getting BAH for Nuke E4 Petty Officers was built into the system by design from the start ( until the last year or two ).

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